Participated · Series C · Jun 2021

Sentera provides agronomic enterprises with an ag analytics platform and a data science ecosystem powered by machine learning and deep learning. Its platform delivers scalable plant-level measurements and comprehensive phenotyping and product-performance insights informed by aerial imagery captured by drone technology solutions or services. The company integrates public and customer-proprietary data to produce high-accuracy insights across plant-level tracking, regional yield estimates, nutrient uptake, and crop quality attributes. Operating in more than 45 countries, Sentera works with customers focused on research, product development, and in-field product validation. Led by CEO Brian Wenngatz, the St. Paul, MN-based company raised an undisclosed Series C expansion round led by Conti Ventures and S2G Ventures. It intends to use the funds to expand operations and broaden its business reach. Sentera provides an AI-powered platform, FieldAgent®, that integrates data from satellites, on-field equipment, weather, soil, drone sensors and field observations to generate time-sensitive insights. Data products are processed with models, machine learning and artificial intelligence tools to help stakeholders optimize agronomic and business outcomes. Led by CEO Eric Taipale, the company serves customers throughout the food and agriculture value stream. Sentera's products are in use in more than 70 countries, on millions of acres and at nearly 100 research universities and centers worldwide. The company raised $25M in a Series C financing. It intends to use the funds to expand operations and its business reach. Sentera, founded in 2014 by Eric Taipale and based in Minneapolis, supplies integrated remote sensing, analytics, and IoT solutions to the digital agriculture marketplace. The company’s sensors and AI technology enable detection of nutrition, disease, and plant-status issues across crops including corn, soybeans, vegetables, fruit, and nuts. It employs deep learning and advanced computer vision algorithms integrated with mobile, sensor, and cloud components to deliver immediate insights to growers, agronomists, and operators. Sentera’s information integrates directly with major data-management platforms such as John Deere Operations Center and Climate FieldView. Its products are in use in more than 50 countries, on millions of acres, and at nearly 100 research universities worldwide. In June 2018 the company raised an additional $14M in Series A funding. Sentera offers the OnTop™ Platform, a desktop and mobile application suite for cellular and broadcast tower owners, builders, climbers, and service providers to manage inspection imagery. The platform automatically syncs mobile and desktop clients, lets users analyze image data, and records exact location, date, time, and asset type for each inspection photo. Photos are assigned to the correct site and presented in a searchable map view; all imagery is saved to a secure, 256-bit AES + SSL encrypted cloud server and is available instantly once uploaded. The company is FAA-approved to commercially operate drones and reports more than 20,000 hours of total flight time and over 200 years of combined team experience in drones, sensors, software, data management, and engineering solutions. Sentera is led by Greg Emerick, EVP of business development. The article notes the company launched its platform after securing outside funding.

Participated · Series A · Aug 2016

kubo.financiero operates a P2P lending platform in Mexico that connects individual investors with borrowers using technology and data to underwrite loans. The platform issues loans ranging from US$400 to $4,100 with terms of 4 to 36 months for uses including working capital, fixed assets, education fees and loan pre-payment. The company has provided over 4,700 loans totalling $35M since 2012, funded by about 500 individual investors. Led by founder and CEO Vicente Fenoll, kubo.financiero intends to use the new capital to continue expanding operations. The articles describe the recent fundraise as a Series A round; no additional financial covenants or debt instruments are mentioned. No other past round sizes or founding year beyond the "since 2012" metric are specified in the articles. Kubo Financiero is a Mexican startup specializing in peer-to-peer lending and financial-services technology. The company is participada by the accelerator Wayra and has previously counted Vander Capital among its backers. It aims to create a microfinance marketplace to connect supply and demand for financial resources. As of the article, Kubo reported 5,200 credit applications and has formalized 1,200 loans. Most of those loans have been for companies needing financing for productive activity. The company closed a financing round to support its growth and marketplace development.